The Morgan Beatus

In the 8th century, a monk by the name of Beatus of Liébana completed a 12-book Commentary of the Book of the Apocalypse. This text became one of the most important religious texts of the Middle Ages, copied and disseminated through numerous manuscripts, often with elaborate decorations. 

The Morgan Beatus is one such example - the earliest complete copy - dating to the 10th century. It was illuminated by Maius who worked in the tower scriptorium at San Salvador de Tábara. According to an inscription, Maius records that he made the book so that the "wise may fear the coming of the future judgment of the world's end."

In addition to Beatus's Commentary on the Book of the Apocalypse (ff. 10-233), the manuscript contains excerpts from Isidore of Seville's De ad finitatibus et gradibus and of his Etymologies (ff. 234r-237r), St. Jerome's Commentary on Daniel (ff. 239–293), and a third exposition of the Apocalypse (ff. 294–299). In total, the 300 folia and 110 decorations of the Morgan Beatus constitute one of the best examples of this manuscript type. 

In the folia here on the right, the Heavenly Jerusalem is depicted as a medieval city, complete with turrets and crenellations. It has twelve gates with horseshoe arches derived from Islamic architecture that house apostles beneath disks representing the gems that are cited in the biblical text. Within the walls of the city itself are the Lamb of God, the author John holding a book, and the angel measuring the city with a golden reed.